From the Stands to Press Row: Observing the sports scenery to tell you what it means to me.

Monday, April 8, 2013

Prep Report: Arcadia Invitational Notes

When I used to write at my newspaper, I had an old column called the Prep Report. It was my commentary on things high school related and I loved being able to use it for features and observations.

One of my favorite things to cover was track and field. I didn't know much about the sport beforehand behind loving it at the Olympics but it quickly became one of my faves the more I was around it and learned how deep the community was around it.

It's a shame that I never made it out to the Arcadia Invitational due to one reason or another but there are few meets better than that one in the country. That's why I followed the results on Saturday when I saw them on Twitter. Two things stuck out to me right away.

1. State 100/200 meter champ Khalfani Muhammad is in ridiculous shape already. The Cal-bound senior won the 100 Arcadia in 10.46 seconds and even though they have a fast track, that's remarkable considering he won state in 10.44 last year. He may not approach that time again til the CIF Finals or the Masters Meet but that's a scary thought to imagine him that much faster.

The last two juniors who won the 100 meters ended up repeating so unless an injury happens, everyone else might be playing for second in two months at state.

2. Defending state long jump champion Adoree Jackson has already had a heck of a school year. A state championship in football where he had tworidiculous plays in the state game. A CIF sectional championship as a role player for the basketball team. How does he get ready for his encore?

By running the 3rd leg on Gardena Serra's 4 x 100 relay team that ran the fastest prep time in the nation (41.45) and jumping 24 feet, 6.5 inches into a slight wind for the longest distance in the nation. If there's a better athlete in the country, good luck finding him. Jackson's the latest marvel from a school that gave us Robert Woods and Marqise Lee and trust me, you'll want to know him.

Serra's come close to winning a boys state title twice (2010 and 2012) and I hope this is the year they do it. They've got 2 outstanding relay teams, Jackson in the long jump and defending state 110 hurdles champ Lloyd Siscard, who won the 300 hurdles at Arcadia (37.62).

I'm sure it'll be another fun season and I'll be watching as much as I can. The next big meet out here is at Mt. SAC on April 19/20.

No comments:

Post a Comment

About Me

I've written for several publications (including the LA Sentinel,
Bleacher Report, ESPN) since 2006. Now I'm a reporter for the LA Daily News continuing to cover prep sports and assist their social media content. Occasionally I'll post stuff here and other sports takes at the EB Sports Report but I'm proud to have created a blog niche since 2009 and happier to be working full time again.